Jimmy Thai and Friends

Highly Recommended ****  For years and years, many of us have driven down Lake-Cook Road, going to Ravinia, or to greet friends in Buffalo Grove or even further west. When we passed the shopping center behind the Dunkin Donuts, where the Secretary of State office is, we probably never noticed that there are other businesses, including dining in the center. For years, there was a BBQ place right on the corner, Blackie’s that we went to , but we never knw there was a Thai restaurant all the way at the back. That we found out is where Jimmy Thai began.

After Blackie’s left, Jimmy was given the opportunity to move to the corner where they would be easier to find and his space would be more usable. As it turned out, the new location worked well for him during the “Covid era” as it was far easier to have people pick-up as drive ups. As I learned last night, the people of Highland Park, Northbrook and of course Deerfield have supported them during the pandemic by keeping him in business. He is very thankful to them for continuing to order during the period when people could not enter. While we can now enter, Jane and I noticed that there were still a great number of pick-ups last night. Imagine- a Tuesday night ( nothing special on TV, no big sporting event) and order after order going from kitchen to the front door for pick-up. A truly good sign for the economy and a statement from the people who dine at Jimmy Thai- the food is good!

Jane and I started our evening, seated in the dining room, with  an order of crab rangoon that was just the right crispiness. The sweet and sour sauce was home-made and the flavor better than I had in a long time. We also had Thai Spring Rolls with a plum sauce. The appetizer list is plentiful.

The next course was sharing a bowl from their Ramen Time menu ( Japanese) where they have a special menu and they have made it easy to order, so you look like an expert. We had the chicken broth (regular) with veggies and shrimp. Of course it is loaded with noodles , so one may think of this as the “soup” part of the dinner.  There are many options and choices so you could dine at Jimmy’s every week and not duplicate the Ramen part for many months. While it is located in the same place, they do have a special website www.ramentimedeerfield.com for online orders but use the same phone number 224-235-4650.

The next items that we shared was a stir fry ( again a lot of choices). Ours was the Cashew with pineapples, pea pods, bell peppers, carrots,  broccoli, mushrooms  and steamed white rice. That was followed by Golden Noodles, an amazing dish that is called Thai style Lo-Mein ( stir fried egg noodles with egg, carrots, peapods, mushrooms , broccoli and added shrimp.

As much as I wanted to try a dessert, I decided to make that a reason to come back.

Jimmy Thai is located at 405 Lake Cook Road in Deerfield. This is the center behind the Dunkin Donuts and the turn in is at that street. They are open:

Monday-Fridays  11 a.m.- 8:30 p.m.

Saturday  4 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.

CLOSED ON SUNDAY

The phone number is 224-235-4560 and the website www.JimmyThaiDeerfield.com